Landscape Planning

The process of landscape planning embraces procedural, substantive, and professional knowledge, drawing on competences from the natural sciences, technology, arts, social sciences and the humanities.

Contemporary subfields within Landscape Planning are often complementary, reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of the discipline. These include:

Landscape Planning Practices and Theory

This subfield encompasses knowledge of planning theory and practice, including legal planning systems, planning tools, processes, and policies. It addresses conflicts and trade-offs related to land use, multi-functionality, and planning ideas. Recent research increasingly engages with the digital transformation of planning.

Landscape Analysis

This area examines landscape dynamics by integrating bio-geophysical components with the human dimension, including activities, values, experiences, and local knowledge, and how humans interact with their environment. It combines environmental data with human perceptions, including cultural, aesthetic, and spiritual dimensions. Methods include risk and decision-making analysis, distributed modelling, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), geo-statistics, digital visualisation, landscape assessment and characterisation, and evaluation of when scientific and local knowledge can be integrated to produce context-sensitive insights that inform decision-making, communication and policy.

Cultural Heritage and History

This subfield explores the historical dimensions of landscapes, including garden, park, and wider landscape history. It engages with both tangible and intangible heritage, concepts of time depth, and democratic approaches to heritage planning.

Social Aspects of Landscape Planning

This area investigates issues such as landscape justice, democratisation processes, housing and mobility, and the everyday environments of children and young people. It explores notions of sense of place, landscape identity, and other socio-cultural values, emphasising participatory and inclusive planning approaches.

Ecological Aspects of Landscape Planning

This subfield addresses biodiversity, landscape ecology, and green infrastructure, alongside the restoration of ecosystems. It also considers the ecological and environmental implications of climate change and environmental hazards, promoting resilient and sustainable landscape solutions.

Food as a Lens in Landscape Planning

This emerging subfield highlights the role of food systems in shaping sustainable landscapes and examines food-related dynamics within landscape planning, the interrelationships between food, people and place, as well as issues of food security, food sovereignty, and urban agriculture.

The subject area contributes substantially to teaching across more than seven academic programmes. It plays a key role in the educational programmes for Landscape Architecture, Landscape Architecture Master’s, Landscape Engineering, Food and Landscape, and Sustainable Urban Development. In addition, it contributes to the programmes Forest and Landscape, Agroecology, and Outdoor Environments for Health and Well-being. Course offerings range from holistic, integrative studio courses to more specialised modules focusing on planning, cultural heritage, digital landscape analysis, and the intersection of food and landscape.

The subject area has a long-standing tradition of collaboration with professional practice, including partnerships with municipalities, regional authorities, government agencies, and non-governmental organisations at various levels. It is also embedded in strong national and international academic networks.

External collaboration forms a cornerstone of both research and education within the subject area. Many projects are grounded in real-world challenges of a spatial and contextual nature, addressing physical and administrative scales from regional to local levels.